My Beautiful Sundown
by psychokitty3
Summary: A sister learns a lesson of compassion one night. Oneshot. Please read and review!


In the night, where the horizon of the great city of San Francisco could be seen, I stood. I stood gazing at the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance and watching the view I saw every day. It would have been a spectacular view to any other, but to me, it was just plain old scenery. It could have even been ugly. Why was that? Because of where I was standing. I was standing on my front porch, and I wasn't standing there to look at the scenery. I was not just standing, but waiting. I was waiting for my sisters to come home.

It was two hours after curfew, past midnight, and I was beginning to worry a bit. I wasn't very worried about my youngest sister, Phoebe, though. She was always pulling stunts like that. I guessed it was just the repercussions of growing up without a mother, and just a protective older sister. That was why I was the one standing on the porch. 

I was worried about my other sister, Piper, though. She never stayed out that late. She never broke curfew, nor any other rules. She was what most would call a 'goody-two-shoes'. She earned outstanding grades, had a few close friends, and always did the right thing. She was basically the stereotypical middle sister, and she was a member of the school's 'geek group'. She belonged to the very group that my friends and I loathed and despised.

We never really got along with the geeks. We saw them as losers who just needed to be put in their place. That was my group's job, putting them where they belong. A geek's place was at the bottom of the social ladder. We played little jokes on them to show them who was boss. Although I had flat out refused to play any of the jokes on my little sister, we just worked extra hard on our little shows with the others. Like that very same day, we had just played a little practical joke on one of the freshman geeks. She was some girl nobody cared about, Laine something. Everyone laughed when we put our plan into action. It really brightened up my day. 

Lost in my thoughts, I was a bit late to realize the figure walking down the road. The shadow was creeping quietly up my driveway by the time I realized that it was one of my sisters. As soon as she passed the porch light, I recognized which one she was. I could not mistake that bright red, dyed hair anywhere. It was Phoebe.

Phoebe glanced up, as if checking who was asleep in our house. She received a mighty surprise when she found me standing on the porch.

"Um... hi, Prue," she said timidly, standing beside me on the porch. She was obviously frightened of the imminent scolding. 

"Inside. Now." I directed, pointing at the double doors leading into the foyer of our house. She hung her head, and dragged herself inside. I followed behind her, closing the door.

I pulled her into the living room, and forcefully sat her on the couch. She looked anxiously down at her hands, fiddling her thumbs. Despite her timid actions, I glared down at her.

"Where were you, Phoebe Louise Halliwell?" I asked. She winced. Both of us knew that I always meant business when I said a full name. 

"I...I was at, um, at Rick's." 

"Rick's? As in your friend who is having a party on a school night Rick?" She nodded. I sighed. "How could you, Phoebe? You know that you aren't allowed to go to parties on school nights! And, you are home way too long after curfew!" She still didn't look up at me. 

"Go upstairs to your bedroom. I'll decide your grounding sentence tomorrow." I pointed at the staircase. 

"But..."

"No buts. You broke curfew, you have to live with the consequences. Go!" She sighed, stood up, and trudged over to and up the stairs. When she was on the top step, I called up to her. 

"Phoebe?" She turned around and finally looked at me. 

"Yeah?" 

"Do me a favor, please, and learn how to grow up." She disappeared from view.

Just then, I heard the front door slam shut. A few seconds after, Piper and her long brunette hair came into view. I stood up, and took in Piper's demeanor. She looked worn out, and angry, or at least that's how I thought she looked. I had never seen my quiet, good-natured little sister angry before. 

"Where were you?" I asked in a cold tone. "I was worried sick!" 

"Out," she spat. I was taken aback. I had never heard her be so cruel before, least of all to me. 

"Out? Out where?" 

"It's none of your business." She continued walking, this time away from the living room. 

"None of my business? I do believe it is my business. I deserve to know why you've been out so late." My tone was demanding, persisting, but I didn't care. She needed to tell me what was going on. She whirled around, anger seeping out of her every pore.

"You really want to know where I was? I was at Lannie Witherspoon's house. And you want to know why I was there? She was crying. She was devastated by the 'little joke' that you and your friends played on her today. You all may think that doing that to her today was great, that you are all geniuses. But when you twirl your perfect raven locks on your meticulously manicured fingers, gossiping with your friends about who likes who, and what the geeks are doing today, you fail to see the bigger picture. You fail to see that every 'geek', every so-called reject, is a real person, with real feelings and real spirits. Those spirits can be shattered with just a few cruel words, despite what childhood tales and rhymes say. You don't see the work that is put in to making sure that those spirits are put back together, every piece in the correct place. So listen to me when I tell you this, Prudence Halliwell: take your own advice, and just GROW UP!"

With that last outburst, she turned back around and stormed up the steps, leaving me standing there. I was speechless. 'Is what she's saying the truth?' I thought. 'Did I really make someone cry?'

I walked out onto the front porch, needing to clear my head to decipher what had just been revealed to me. I looked out onto the view of the Bay and the Bridge, and it was the same as it had always been. Except, there was one difference. This time, I thought it was spectacular. 


End file.
